PHOENIX, Ariz., (February 27, 2012) – Olympic champion and youngest American wrestler in history to win gold, Henry Cejudo, will have his life story portrayed on stage. The play entitled, “American Victory” is written by José Zárate and produced by the Arizona State University School of Theatre and Film MainStage Season in the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts. The performances are scheduled for March 2-3, 8-10 and 15-16 at 7:30 p.m. and March 4 and 11 at 2 p.m. at the Nelson Fine Arts Center Studio 133, located on Arizona State’s Tempe campus.
 
“American Victory” tells a true story about a local young man’s struggle for American identity and the quest for Olympic gold. Cejudo vaulted from relative obscurity to celebrity, appearing on the Jay Leno Show, Oprah, and other national talk shows. It is adapted from the book American Victory by Henry Cejudo with Bill Plaschke. American Victory is the highly successful first book for Henry, and his second book is scheduled to be published later this year.
 
Henry Cejudo was born in 1987 in Los Angeles to Nelly Rico, an immigrant from Mexico. Abandoned by her husband, Nelly moved her family of seven children to various states in her search for employment. Poor but loving and closely-knit, the family eventually settled in Phoenix.  Cejudo attended Maryvale High School and was introduced to wrestling by his brother Angel. 
 
"His story is very much part of the immigrant story of Phoenix, and we wanted to include modern portraits as well as historic works in our celebration of Arizona's birthday," said Guillermo Reyes, director of the MFA Dramatic Writing program at the School of Theatre and Film. Reyes commissioned the play last year in his search for meaningful works to commemorate the Arizona centennial. 
 
Cejudo has worked with the ASU creators, and has visited the rehearsals twice in past weeks.
 
For more information on performances and tickets, please visit the Arizona State University School of Theatre and Film’s events page.